Bank of America joins Chase in charging $5 per lost debit card

As if losing your debit card isn't headache enough. It may soon cost you $5 as well.

Bank
of America, the nation's largest bank, says it plans to start charging
customers $5 to replace lost debit cards. It's just the latest unwelcome
news for consumers who have seen banks introduce a steady stream of new
and higher fees over the past year.

Bank of
America says the fee, which goes into effect in September, will be
waived if the card is stolen. For overnight delivery of a card, the fee
will be $20. There is currently no charge for either service.

Checking
account customers should be getting accustomed to such unwelcome news.
Last year the availability of free checking accounts with no strings
attached shrank for the first time since 2003. Only 65 percent of
checking accounts were free, down from 76 percent in 2009, according to
Bankrate.com.

One reason for the fees is that banks are contending
with new regulations that will sharply reduce their revenue from
checking accounts. The Federal Reserve on July 21 is set to cap the fees
banks can collect from merchants whenever customers swipe their debit
cards.

The move is projected to slash revenue by $14 billion for the industry.